Primary Sources (A How-to Guide): Magazines & Journals

The American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection contains more than 6,500 historical periodical titles dating from 1693 to 1877. The collection includes early works imported by the colonists in several European languages, as well as titles published in America from before the American Revolution through the Civil War. Pages, articles, and illustrations are available as pdfs.

Features photography and information on architecture and interior design, art and antiques, travel destinations, and products in a comprehensive cover-to-cover format.
Dates Covered: 1922-2011

This collection features ten long-running and highly influential trade and popular magazines which document all aspects of cinema going, the film industry and the evolution of television and popular culture in the US and UK.
Dates Covered: 1880-2000.

Published from 1830-1898, Godey?s Lady?s Book was one of the first, and most successful, American women's magazines. It is an important resource for the study of 19th century American life and culture, and contains a wide variety of content including essays, stories, fashion, illustrations and sheet music.

Searchable full-text archives of Harper's Weekly covering the latter half of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century.

Provides electronic access to full page images, with searchable text and indexing of all content (including advertisements). Published by Time Inc., the magazine has featured story-telling through documentary photographs and informative captions.
Dates Covered: 1936-2000.

Provides access to the complete archive of National Geographic magazine with a cross-searchable collection of National Geographic books, maps, images and videos.
Dates Covered: 1888-2020.

A database containing comprehensive indexing of the most popular general-interest periodicals published in the United States.
Dates Covered: 1890-1982.